Raku

Raku pottery has its beginnings in the tea ceremony ware of Japan, though it has evolved into a genre of pottery adopted by many western potters. It involves the removal of pots from the kiln when it is still extremely hot. They are then either left to cool naturally, plunged into water or put into drums of organic matter (usually wood shavings) to starve the molten glaze of oxygen and produce lustrous effects.